


home is wherever you are

by faithfulhorizon



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 06:04:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6183545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithfulhorizon/pseuds/faithfulhorizon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Riley,” Laura had murmured, curling her free hand around Carmilla’s shoulder, scooting closer to press a warm kiss to her lips. “We should name her Riley.”</p><p>And Carmilla remembers being completely taken, both by the name and the girl lying with her on a wet blanket in the cool evening air, with the stars the only witness to their love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	home is wherever you are

**Author's Note:**

> hello!!! this is my first fic for the fandom, and I'm a bit nervous, so I hope it's okay!! and it's the first thing I've posted in a year which is wild, haha, so excuse any mistakes and such! but, yeah! this is for my best friend, and I really hope she likes it and I hope you guys do too!!

Everything was perfect.

Every night when they both laid down to go to sleep, she pulled Laura closer to her, wrapping an arm around her and pressing a kiss to the back of her neck. She loved being able to hold her like this, to hold her close against her and feel her warmth radiating off her, reminding her that she really is real and that this really is happening.

She was then able to rub circles into her stomach after slipping her hand underneath the fabric of her shirt, and she always smiled into her skin when Laura would whine, “Your hands are too cold.”

She would keep doing this until she heard Laura’s breath even out, the telltale sign that she was fast asleep. Only then would she press another soft kiss to the back of her neck, and then another, and then one between the juncture of her neck and her shoulder. She would hold the kiss out, for a few seconds, and then pull away a mere centimeter, and whisper her name. Another kiss, and then how much she loves her.

She’s done this countless amounts of times, and she always does it when Laura is either unconscious or unaware of the situation. When she coaxes her into dancing, and they fall down on her bed, laughing, she can’t pull her gaze away from her, because she’s so beautiful, so lovely, and she’ll murmur that she loves her. Laura will always look up at her after a moment, confusion written across her face, and ask her what she said. All Carmilla ever does is give her a soft smile, and says, “Don’t worry about it, cupcake.”

There are the times when Laura is doing her homework on her bed, and she has her pen caught in between her teeth, chewing on it as she stares down at the book sprawled out in her lap. It’s a horrible habit of hers, but Carmilla finds it endearing, and she can’t help the soft smile she makes, can’t help lying back down on her own bed and mumbling under her breath that she loves her.

There are the times when Laura is drunk, and it’s a sight to see. She’s not one to drink often, but when someone pushes it into her hands, tells her to live a little, and she has a little too many sips, she’s tipsy and smiling so widely, her words already slurring together. It’s a hassle to get her to lie down in her bed underneath the covers, but Carmilla manages to do it every single time, and Laura always reaches up to squish her cheeks together, giggling softly to herself. “Thanks Carm,” she’ll murmur after letting go of her face, her hands falling down to rest on her stomach. “You’re the-- the best.”

Carmilla can’t help but smile, and she can’t help the roll of her eyes as she pulls up the blanket to Laura’s chin, like a mother does for her child. Laura’s eyes would already be growing heavy, but she always manages to get out a soft little, “I love you.”

It wasn’t the first time she’s ever said ‘ _ I love you _ ’ to Carmilla, but it still gets her every time. Every time, she watches as Laura’s eyes flutter shut, and her little smile stays on her face for a little while until it disappears as she lets out a puff of breath. It’s adorable, and Carmilla feels as if this girl is tugging on her heartstrings.

Once a few moments pass, after pushing her hair back and repeating the motion a few times, Carmilla will always lean forward and press a kiss to her forehead, and whisper back, “I love you too.”

There are also the times where she has her underneath her, and she’s looking up at her with those eyes-- those eyes that make it feel as if a bullet is going straight through her heart. Those are the times she leans forward and kisses her, telling her everything she needs to know in that kiss. She tells her how much she loves her through those kisses, and she’s hoping that she understands.

And, Carmilla is pretty sure she understands, because Laura kisses back with everything she has. She’ll always reach up and grab handfuls of her shirt, pulling her down and flush against her to the point where Carmilla doesn’t know where she begins and where Laura ends. It’s like they’ve blended together, and honestly, Carmilla wouldn’t have it any other way.

And then, there are the times when Carmilla and Laura are sitting underneath the stars, sprawled out on one of Laura’s favorite blankets. It’s soft to the touch, and separates them from the wet grass after a short shower. And yet, even when the water starts to get the blanket wet, thus in turn making the cold seep into Carmilla’s back, she’s never felt so warm, with Laura lying beside her.

They’ll talk about anything and everything, but the topic that they would talk about the most is their future. And, the thing is, Carmilla knew (even then) that Laura was it for her. She knew this was the girl she wanted to wake up to every morning, the girl she wanted to fall asleep next to every night. Laura was her everything, and she’d be damned if she let that slip through her fingers.

“Tell me about our future,” Laura would whisper, her voice just barely heard above the sound of the evening wind. It was a common occurrence, for Laura to ask Carmilla to tell stories about their future, and Carmilla never got bored of telling the story.

Carmilla remembers smiling, smiling even wider when Laura slips her soft hand into her own, lacing their fingers together. Keeping her grounded.

So she told her, she told her about how their house would look, where they would live, how big their backyard would be. She can’t help the warm feeling that blossoms in her chest at thinking of her future with Laura, especially when she gets to the children.

“We’ll obviously have a girl first,” Carmilla would say. She’d turn onto her side, never once letting for of Laura’s hand and smile at the big smile on Laura’s face as she watches the stars in the sky. “She’d be so full of life, and ready to go on big adventures everyday. Just like you.” Carmilla would pause, a soft laugh escaping her. “And you’d do her hair every morning, braids and pigtails.”

Laura would turn to face Carmilla, a twinkle in her eyes that Carmilla couldn’t place (she can now though, looking back on those days). Her pink lips turned up in a bright smile, and it would always make Carmilla’s heart beat widely in her chest and make her wonder what she did to deserve this ray of sunshine in her life. This warmth.

“Riley,” Laura had murmured, curling her free hand around Carmilla’s shoulder, scooting closer to press a warm kiss to her lips. “We should name her Riley.”

And Carmilla remembers being completely taken, both by the name and the girl lying with her on a wet blanket in the cool evening air, with the stars the only witness to their love.

Then there was the day, the day where she finally got to marry the love of her life. She remembers how clammy her hands felt, how her heart felt like it was ready to jump out of her chest with how fast it was beating. What really stuck with her though, was how beautiful Laura looked, with two small braids pulled back and the rest of her hair falling down over her shoulder in waves. She remembers how bright her smile was, and how much her own smile hurt with how big she was smiling. She remembers the feeling of complete and utter happiness once their vows were said, once they sealed it with a soft kiss.

And of course, there were the fights. It wasn’t always sunshine and happiness, and maybe it was for the better, because if they never fought it wouldn’t show how much they care. It still hurts though, watching as tears fall down Laura’s face, when they both have defensive stances and she can feel her throat starting to tighten, her eyes beginning to sting with unshed tears. They always worked themselves out at the end of the day, though. Always fell back into each other’s orbit.

Which leads them to now. Curled into each other in the early morning hours, where the sun is just beginning to rise and Laura is still fast asleep, soft puffs of air falling past her parted pink lips.

Even after all these years, all the years of loving her so fiercely and wanting only the best for her, she is still stunned with how beautiful she is. Especially when she’s asleep, where there’s no worries and no sadness; where there’s no weight on her shoulders. How she wishes she could look so stress free all the time.

As Carmilla reaches out to slowly brush back a stray lock of her hair, tucking it behind her ear, the door creaks open and a little girl with dark, black hair pokes her head in. Bright blue eyes find Carmilla, awake, and her entire face lights up.

“Mama!”

Carmilla can’t help the fond feeling she gets, nor the smile that breaks out on her face. “Shh, Riley,” Carmilla calls in a loud whisper. “Mommy’s still sleeping.”

Riley’s eyes widen, as if she’s appalled at the fact that she didn’t take that into consideration. Her little hands fly up to cover her mouth, and it only makes Carmilla laugh.

“C’mere,” Carmilla says, waving her daughter closer.

Riley doesn’t miss a beat; she stumbles into the room on her little legs and is rushing up onto the bed as quickly as her body will allow it. Carmilla sits up so she’s able to pull her into her lap, pressing a soft kiss to her temple.

“Up pretty early, aren’t we?”

Riley nods, her hair bouncing with the movement. Her eyes are on her sleeping mother. “Mommy’s sleeping.”

Carmilla glances down at Laura. “Hm, she is. But you can wake her up if you want to.”

It’s like Riley was just waiting for her permission, because she scrambles out of her lap as fast as she got in it, scooting over to Laura and pressing wet kisses all over her face in an attempt to wake her up.

(And it kills Carmilla, because Riley picked it up from her. She had seen Carmilla wake Laura up many times with soft, fleeting little kisses all over her face, saving her lips for when she was actually awake. It’s so endearing, and it just reminds her why she loves her so much.)

She’s brought back from her thoughts when she hears Riley squeal and Laura’s laugh. And it’s a sight to see, Laura tickling their daughter and peppering her face with kisses. It reminds Carmilla of how lucky she is, to have this life with Laura, and now Riley.

“Now, how does some pancakes sound, my little monkey?” Laura asks, a wide smile lifting her lips up.

Riley throws her arms around Laura’s neck, letting herself be pulled up as Laura sits up. “Yes! With the chocolate chips!”

Laura laughs. “All the chocolate chips!”

“Go get dressed, Riley,” Carmilla says, reaching over to boop Riley’s nose. “And then we can make pancakes.”

It amazes Carmilla how full of energy Riley is, especially so early in the morning, because she’s moving again, hopping off their bed with the guiding hand of Laura and rushing out of the room back to her own. It’s like the energy is just bursting out of her, pushing at the seams and seeping out. (She has a feeling it’ll be an early night for her tonight, where she’ll be falling asleep in the bathtub as they wash her hair and dry her, tucking her into bed with little kisses and soft reminders of their love for her.)

Laura turns to her once Riley’s out of the room, the twinkle in her eye reminding her so much of Riley. It kills her how much Riley takes after Laura, and endears her at the same time.

“Good morning,” Laura smiles, leaning closer to press their lips together in a gentle kiss. It still fills her with butterflies.

“Mornin’,” Carmilla says once she pulls back. She can’t help but reach up and run her thumb over her bottom lip, sighing. “Pancakes.”

Laura laughs, softly. “ _ Chocolate chip _ pancakes.”

Carmilla can only roll her eyes, her hand dropping down to rest in her lap. “Well,” she starts, pulling the blankets off her legs. There’s a slight chill to the air, but it’s nothing pants won’t solve. “They won’t make themselves.”

Laura looks like she’s going to say something, but Riley’s calling out to them, followed with her little feet stomping down the steps, headed towards the kitchen. She can tell Laura’s just as taken with her as she is because she’s smiling in that way she does, the one their friends call the “loving mother” smile.

(They also say Laura has a Carmilla smile. Carmilla has a Laura smile too, and it’s really not that surprising at this point.)

Laura pulls herself out of bed (after kissing her cheek, of course) and runs a hand through her hair, cheeks a little flushed. “Oliver.”

At first, she didn’t think anything of it, but as she’s pulling on a pair of pants, she realizes just what Laura said. She blinks, looking up at her wife standing in the doorway. “What?”

“Oliver,” Laura repeats, that twinkle in her eye reappearing. Carmilla wonders if it ever left. “Our first boy should be named Oliver.”

And, well, she wasn’t really expecting that, but thinking about it, she can see it. A little Oliver running around on chubby legs, running after his sister and maybe there’ll be another child at that time. It sounds perfect.

“I love it.” And she does.

Laura’s smile is so genuine and bright, it reminds her of the time she first told her she loved her. “Perfect. Now, don’t take too long. Pancakes!”

And with that, Laura leaves the room. Carmilla can pin the exact moment she enters the kitchen because she can hear Riley’s squeal of excitement, can hear her blabbering on about how many chocolate chips they should put into the pancakes.

Carmilla finishes getting dressed, and she’s pretty sure it’s the fastest she’s ever gotten dressed before (besides the time when Laura came over and practically dragged her out of bed to go out on one of her infamous adventures -- which has resulted in many bruises, but Carmilla would walk to the ends of the earth, steal the Mona Lisa, if it made Laura happy). She just wants to get downstairs to her family.

Which, is crazy. Even after all these years, Carmilla can’t get over the fact that she has a family now. A family she made, and a family she wants around her at all times. A family that is home.

When she gets downstairs, she finds Riley and Laura laughing, pancake batter on their faces and even some in their hair. How they managed to do that is beyond Carmilla, but it still manages to make her heart swell with fondness.

And this, well, this is home.

**Author's Note:**

> hopefully this isn't the last I write of these guys because this was a lot of fun!! really enjoyed it c:


End file.
